'Wheel of Fortune' player blanks out and loses bonus round after receiving only one letter as clue
"Wheel of Fortune" witnessed a rare moment in tonight's episode. During the Bonus Round, contestant Eric believed that he had chosen a rare combination of consonants and a vowel to guess the puzzle. However, he was left stunned when none of it unlocked any clues; Eric lost out on a brand new Ford Mustang because the board showcased only one letter.
Eric smashed the first toss-up in the "Food and Drink" category and won cash. During the Second Toss-Up and First Round, the first main puzzle, "Black and White Television," Eric got it right and won a trip to Lake Tahoe, bringing his total winnings to $10,920. He then scored a hat-trick by solving all three toss-ups in this round, each with the category "Event." Eric solved "Baby's First Steps," "Baby's First Words," and "Baby's First Tantrum," adding $10,000 to his score and putting him in the lead. The Final Spin Round featured the category "Phrase." Eric solved the puzzle, "That's a Riot," securing his spot in the bonus round.
He then introduced his wife and his mother to the host, Ryan Seacrest. Eric moved forward to play the bonus round in the "Food and Drink" category, choosing the letters F, M, B, and the vowel U after receiving the standard letters R, S, T, L, N, and E. He is left in a vague dilemma because there are no clues on the board despite choosing rare letters and the vowel "U" for the first time. The puzzle board looks: _, _, _, _, _, _, _, _, _, L.
Despite his early success, Eric completely blanked out and was unable to solve the puzzle within the time limit. The answer is revealed as "Avocado Oil". The episode concluded with Eric's total winnings of $26,020 and losing out on a Ford Mustang worth $42,585. Fans were left annoyed after witnessing for the third time a contestant lose a car during the bonus round. "What's up with FMB U? I haven't seen anyone blanked out of any help in a long time. At least do something like a CMP O to have a decent chance at it. Classic CDMA might've gotten it for him," @tenningale complained. "Not very helpful with only one letter on the board, and I can’t believe we have 3 car losses in one week, but one was won," @zaidarodriguez8455 criticized.
"Extremely rare that someone picks U as their vowel choice. O would have been a better choice, since there were three of them, and he very likely would have known that the last word was oil, and might have figured out avocado," @johnwiesner9590 chimed in. "Eric didn't stand a chance. Nobody did. Sometimes picking rare letters is the better option because you never know what Wheel of Fortune might throw at you. Didn't pay off this time, sorry to say," @Garrison_the_Barbarian added.
You can watch the tricky moment here.
More on Market Realist
'Wheel of Fortune' fans call out the show after player lost $50,000 due to an outdated phrase
'Wheel of Fortune' contestant wins a car — moments after he accused Pat Sajak of distracting him
'Wheel of Fortune' fans celebrate as cancer survivor drives home in a Ford Mustang
